Why Cristiano Ronaldo is tattoo free

The tattoo parlour is one of the favoured haunts for the modern footballer but one of the games biggest names in Cristiano Ronaldo is strangely free of tattoos....

From Zlatan Ibrahimovic's back, Radja Nainggolan's neck and pretty much all of Dani Alves' body, tattoos have become de rigueur for the modern football player. Despite the omnipresence of ink covered torsos, one of the leading names in the modern game free from the ink and needle is Real Madrid's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

UK based daily The Mirror published an article with the possible motives behind the Madeira born player's reasons for resisting the tattoo parlour and his tendency for giving blood could be the principal motive. After every tattoo, according to the Red Cross one is prohibited from giving blood for at least four months as to avoid any possible infection transmission. Cristiano gave blood on two occasions in 2017 as he documented via his social media platforms.

The Real Madrid striker is also a bone marrow donor and the illness affecting the son of his former Portugal team-mate Carlos Martinswas the motivating factor and this process also requires the giving of peripheral blood stem cells with Cristiano himself claiming the process is painless.

After the high profile case and campaign conducted by Pablo Raéz who died of leukaemia last year, in Málaga alone bone marrow donors rocked by 300% with the basic requirement of any potential donor to be between the age of 18-55 and lead a healthy lifestyle.